The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
RFID tag reader systems (TRS) that are used to track RFID tags often must be able to detect numerous tags crossing a detection point within a very short period of time. For example, RFID tag reader systems are often used in sporting events to time participants of such events. In such applications, that include marathon races, the RFID tag readers for the sports timing systems have a very difficult job as they are required to read hundreds, or perhaps thousands of timing chips as they cross a start, split, or finish line. The technology typically used by other systems can very susceptible to electrical interference, weather, and other factors. The RFID race timing systems operates at an ultra-high frequency and is less susceptible to interference. This helps reduce the number of problems the user might experience on race day. Many such systems use a passive chip that does not require a battery. The chip operates in the Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) range, which provides a more consistent and clean signal. Some of these systems often use low frequency (LF) chips that can be susceptible to interference from things like electrical power lines, rebar in concrete roads, mobile telephone systems or storms. UHF signals travel in a direction commonly referred to as line-of-sight. This simply means that the signal is highly concentrated in a single direction, and that is why it works so well for timing races.
While current RFID readers can have an overall chip read success can range from 98.0% to 100% with as many as 30 participants crossing a finish line within a 1-second period, some tags cannot be read and their passing of the detection point information is never automatically recorded by the RFID readers. As such, there is a need for providing methods and systems for enabling supplemental tag reads.
When using an RFID system for timing sporting events, one of the problems often experienced is the failure of the timing system to read 100% of the RFID tags worn by the participants. There are numerous reasons why an RFID tag may not be read, but it is well understood in the sports timing industry that this problem will occur at many events. When an RFID tag is not read, critical information is lost for that participant, which could potentially affect the outcome of the event. Thus, there exists a need to ensure that timing information is collected for as many participants as possible. The METS system and improvement to the ITS system solves this problem by providing a network enabled manual backup entry system that complements an RFID timing system.